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IoT Machine Learning
Applications in
Telecom, Energy, and
Agriculture
With Raspberry Pi and Arduino
Using Python
—
Puneet Mathur

www.allitebooks.com
IoT Machine Learning
Applications in
Telecom, Energy, and
Agriculture
With Raspberry Pi and Arduino
Using Python

Puneet Mathur

www.allitebooks.com
IoT Machine Learning Applications in Telecom, Energy, and Agriculture
Puneet Mathur
Bangalore, Karnataka, India

ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-5548-3 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-5549-0

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-5549-0

Copyright © 2020 by Puneet Mathur

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Table of Contents
About the Author���������������������������������������������������������������������������������ix

About the Technical Reviewer�������������������������������������������������������������xi

Acknowledgments�����������������������������������������������������������������������������xiii
Introduction����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xv

Chapter 1: Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware����������1

Hardware Requirements���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������2
Single-Board Computer�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������3
Popular Single-Board Computers on the Market���������������������������������������������4
Single-Board Microcontrollers����������������������������������������������������������������������������12
Arduino Mega 2560���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������13
IoT sensors����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������14
Drones�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������16
Modbus Device���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������16
Required Software����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������17
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������18

Chapter 2: Overview of IoT and IIoT���������������������������������������������������19

A Closer Look at the IoT��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������19
Commercial Uses of the IoT��������������������������������������������������������������������������������23
IoT Trends for the Future�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������26

www.allitebooks.com
Table of Contents

A Closer Look at Thought AI��������������������������������������������������������������������������������31

Typing������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������34
Voice Dictation�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������35
Thought AI Technology�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������36
Industrial Internet of Things��������������������������������������������������������������������������������38
Commercial Uses of IIoT��������������������������������������������������������������������������������40
IoT and IIoT Differences��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������41
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������43

Chapter 3: Using Machine Learning with IoT and IIoT in Python��������45

Testing the Raspberry Pi Using Python���������������������������������������������������������������46
Testing the System����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������47
Testing Arduino Using Python�����������������������������������������������������������������������������52
Arduino Hardware Setup and Communication����������������������������������������������53
Running the Sketch���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������58
Getting IoT Sensor Data with Raspberry Pi Sample Code�����������������������������������60
Connecting It All Together������������������������������������������������������������������������������63
Programming the IoT Sensor LDR Module�����������������������������������������������������67
Storing IoT Sensor Data in a Database���������������������������������������������������������������70
Configuring a SQLite3 Database��������������������������������������������������������������������71
Creating the Database Structure�������������������������������������������������������������������73
Inserting Data into the Database�������������������������������������������������������������������74
Checking the Data for Sanity�������������������������������������������������������������������������76
Creating the IoT GUI-Based Monitoring Agent�����������������������������������������������88
Applying Machine Learning Model on the Sensor Data��������������������������������������93
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������99

vi
 Table of Contents

Chapter 4: Using Machine Learning and the IoT in Telecom,

Energy, and Agriculture��������������������������������������������������������������������101
State-of-the-Art Implementation of Machine Learning and the IoT
in the Telecom Domain��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������102
State-of-the-Art Implementation of Machine Learning and the IoT
in the Energy Domain����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������106
The Current State of the IoT in the Energy Domain�������������������������������������106
Solutions for Embracing the IoT in the Energy Domain�������������������������������107
State-of-the-Art Implementation of Machine Learning and the IoT in the
Agriculture Domain�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������113
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������117

Chapter 5: Preparing for the Case Studies Implementation�������������119

Setting Up Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+����������������������������������������������������������������119
Time Out for Testing������������������������������������������������������������������������������������136
Determining Bit Size������������������������������������������������������������������������������������141
Installing the Arduino IDE����������������������������������������������������������������������������������148
Installing SQLite3 Database������������������������������������������������������������������������������154
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������163

Chapter 6: Configuring the Energy Meter�����������������������������������������165

Coding for the EM6400 Energy Meter���������������������������������������������������������������166
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������201

Chapter 7: Telecom Industry Case Study: Solving the Problem

of Call Drops with the IoT�����������������������������������������������������������������203
Telecom Case Study Overview��������������������������������������������������������������������������204
Setup and Solution for the Case Study�������������������������������������������������������������210
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������222

vii
Table of Contents

Chapter 8: Gantara power plant: Predictive Maintenance for an

Industrial Machine���������������������������������������������������������������������������225
The Case Study�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������226
Project Background�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������227
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������247

Chapter 9: Agriculture Industry Case Study: Predicting

a Cash Crop Yield������������������������������������������������������������������������������249
Agriculture Industry Case Study Overview��������������������������������������������������������250
The Problem������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������252
Machine Learning to the Rescue?���������������������������������������������������������������253
Solution�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������256
The Python Code������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������256
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������271

Index�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������273

viii
About the Author
Puneet Mathur is an author, AI consultant,
and speaker with over 20 years of corporate
IT industry experience. He has risen from a
programmer to a third-line manager working
with multinationals like HP, IBM, and Dell
at various levels. For several years he has
been working as an AI consultant through his
company, Boolbrite International, for clients
around the globe, guiding and mentoring
client teams stuck with AI and machine
learning problems. He is a regular speaker at international conferences.
He is also an Udemy Instructor with several courses on machine learning.
His latest bestselling book, Machine Learning Applications Using Python
(Apress), is for those machine learning professionals who want to advance
their career by gaining experiential knowledge from an AI expert. His other
hot books include The Predictive Project Manager, The Predictive Program
Manager, Prediction Secrets, and Good Money Bad Money. You can read
more about him on his website at www.PMAuthor.com.

ix
About the Technical Reviewer
Abhishek Nandy has a B.Tech in IT and is a
constant learner. He is a Microsoft MVP for
the Windows platform, an Intel Black Belt
Developer, and an Intel Software Innovator;
he has a keen interest in AI, IoT, and game
development. He is currently serving as an
application architect in an IT firm. He also
consults on AI and IoT and does projects
with AI, ML, and deep learning. He is
also an AI trainer and drives the technical part of the Intel AI Student
developer program at leading IITs in India. He has showcased a demo
on Reinforcement Learning with Unity at SIGGRAPH 2018 in Vancouver,
Canada. He has won four AI for PC Challenges at Intel. He was involved
in the first Make in India initiative, where he was among the top 50
innovators and got trained in IIMA. He won an Early Innovation Game Dev
grant from Intel; the game got published for Runs Great on Intel.
Link to DevMesh: https://devmesh.intel.com/users/abhishek-nandy
Link to his publication at the Intel Developer Zone: https://software.
intel.com/en-us/user/78014
Link to Medium: https://medium.com/@abhishek.nandy81

xi
Acknowledgments
I acknowledge the various engineers working at telecom companies,
hi-tech agricultural farms, and in the energy sector who came forward to
share information on how their operations needed further improvements
and where AI could help; I used anonymous surveys conducted through
personal and online means. I would also like to thank various company
experts from multinationals like ABB, GE, and others who came forward to
discuss topics related to this book, which needed their suggestions.
All the data in this book is anonymized and is not taken from any
particular company, situation, or source. Any resemblance to actual data is
only a coincidence. The datasets in this book are based on my experience
working with clients and engineers; however, I have taken care to not take
any such data from them and it is completely clean of any plagiarism.
The instruments and sensors including the drone and energy devices
are not sponsored by any company nor did I get any fee or any incentive
of any kind to use one over the other. The choice of all devices and sensors
used in this book is entirely based on my independent judgement and
experience.

xiii
Introduction
In late January of 2019, after attending a conference on IoT, I met a potential
client in Mumbai regarding the use of machine learning in a factory setting.
He wanted to know if machine learning could be used in his environment
and, if so, what kind of business benefit could he look forward to in its
implementation. I discussed a few use cases with him which involved the
use of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). In business, there are two types
of strategies: one is revenue growth and the other is cost reduction. If you
are in a business where there is high revenue growth taking place, then
you would not bother much about cost reduction. Your focus would be
to expand your business. However, if you are seeing steady growth for a
number of years and you have stiff competition, then the pressure on you
is to not just to maintain your existing customers but also to reduce cost so
that you can beat the competition. My client was in this mode of business.
Most of the use cases I showed him were of revenue growth, which did not
meet his expectation. However, the use case of doing an energy audit in
his factory using IIoT caught his attention and he explained that he had
a large electricity bill and he wanted me to implement an energy audit
to help reduce cost. His next set of questions involved how much of cost
reduction he could look forward to versus the investment that was needed
to implement the solution. I gave him a small workout with a plan for its
implementation, which was received well within his company, although
we were doing this for the first time in a factory setting.
This book features one of those solutions, although not the complete
one as it would need a separate book to do so. But the solutions in this
book will help you get started in IoT and IIoT using machine learning.

xv
CHAPTER 1

Getting Started:
Necessary Software
and Hardware
This chapter will introduce you to the world of single-board computers
(SBCs). Many of you, hearing this term for the first time, may wonder
what an SBC is and what it is used for. This chapter will explain SBCs and
how they have developed historically. You will also learn about the most
popular SBCs on the market such as Banana Pi, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino.
In an in-depth comparison, I will explain the features of popular SBCs with
regards to USB, storage, networking, and communication.
You will then learn about the Raspberry Pi and more specifically the
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ because you are going to use it as a master node
in the IoT and IIoT projects in this book. You will also find an in-depth
explanation of the GPIO (general purpose input/output) pins located on
the Raspberry Pi and their uses. You will then learn about single board
micron rollers (SBMs), which are different from single-board computers.
The single-board microcontrollers in IoT and IIoT applications are
generally used as slaves to the single-board computers like Raspberry Pi.
The most popular single-board microcontroller is the Arduino, and you
will look at the types of SBMs in a detailed tabular format covering their
processors, I/O modules, frequency, voltage, etc.

© Puneet Mathur 2020 1

P. Mathur, IoT Machine Learning Applications in Telecom, Energy, and Agriculture,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-5549-0_1
Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

You will then look at Arduino Mega 2560 and its layout and learn about
its GPIO pins. Next, you will learn about the most important topic of the
book: IoT sensors and their types and applications. You will use some of
them in the case study solutions. Also covered is the topic of drones because
they can be used to collect data for a telecom application. Please note that
flying drones requires a license in most countries and you should comply
before trying to use one for any project. You will also learn about an Modbus
device and how it is used to build a commercial application. Lastly, you will
learn about the software programs that run all of these devices.

Note Python version 3.x is used throughout the book. If you have an
older version of Python, the code examples may not work. You need
Python 3.x or later to be able to run them successfully.

Hardware Requirements
For running the exercises in this book you will need the following hardware:

• Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

• Arduino Mega 2560

• LCD/LED screen to output Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

• Single phase energy meter: Modbus 220/230V,

bidirectional, multi-function, RS485, pulse/Modbus
output

• Drone: Industrial grade, heavy lifting which meets

these specifications:

• Max payload: 1.5 kg (3.5 pounds)

• Range: 5 km

• Time to fly: At least 30 mins

2
 Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

S
 ingle-Board Computer
A single-board computer is a completely functional computer set on a
single printed circuit board. What makes this type of computer unique is
that the entire input, output, and processing such as graphics and numeric
calculations all happen on the same board. While a SBC can be built as a
high computing server, a more popular version of this type of computer is a
small and compact machine.
Historically, SBCs were built to be educational and compact; now they
are used in mainstream commercial applications.
Single-board computers are built on different microprocessors but
they are all of a simple design. They are built to be handy and compact.
Running a fast computer that occupies very little space and is stable and
also portable adds to the charm of owning these machines.
One of the early implementations (May, 1976) of single-board
computer was called the Diana micro; it was based on the Intel C8080A
processor and was a very popular home computer as part of the BigBook
series of computers. With the expansion of the PC market, the SBC did
not progress further until now, when the PC has almost been replaced by
tablets, laptops, and mobiles. You can go to https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Single-board_computer for more information.
Some of the advantages of using SBCs are shown in Table 1-1.

Table 1-1. SBC Features and Advantages

Features Advantage

Price SBCs are available for under $30 each today.

Form factor SBCs are very small, almost the size of a palmtop, which
makes them portable and handy to use.
Operating system Linux variants are most popular. Windows IoT
Architecture Two variants: slot support and no slot support.
Power efficiency High

3
Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

The main reason for the popularity of single-board computers is the

price because they are available for under $30 each. Another perk is their
compact and handy form factor; they fit the palm of the hand. There are
variants that run Linux or Windows IoT or other operating systems. Most
of the SBCs do not come with slot support; however, some do to support
putting industrial grade cards on them. These small machines are highly
efficient in terms of power and can run on home power single phase
connections efficiently. Unless you want to plug them into a big LED or
LCD screen, they do not need a separate power supply for the screen.
They have their own 5-inch or 7-inch LED/LCD flat screens, which can
be powered off the SBC itself. There is a flexibility of covers where the
single boards can be put inside. From transparent ones to stylish cases
to housing for clusters of 4 or 7 SBCs, there is a wide range of options to
choose from for today’s SBCs. This availability has extended the appeal of
these computers by giving the user the DIY sense of achievement. From
choosing the case to installing the operating system to using other types
of software, everything is flexible and there are many options to choose
from. Now let’s look at the most popular SBCs on the market and their
development.

Popular Single-Board Computers on the Market

Table 1-2 lists some of the most popular SBCs on the market, per
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_single-­board_
computers#Operating_system.

4
 Table 1-2. Popular Single-Board Computers
Name PCIe USB[2] Storage Networking Communication Generic I/O
2 3 Device On-­board Flash SATA Eth. Wi-­Fi Bt. I2C SPI GPIO Analog
slots
Raspberry No No No OTG No microSD No No b/g/n 4.1 + Yes Yes 17 No
PiZero W BLE
Chapter 1

Raspberry No No No OTG No microSD No No No No Yes Yes 17 No

PiZero
Raspberry No 4 No No No microSD No 10/100 No No Yes Yes 17 No
Pi Model
B+
Raspberry No 2 No No No SD No 10/100 No No Yes Yes 8 No
Pi Model B
Raspberry No 1 No No No SD No No No No Yes Yes 8 No
Pi Model A
Raspberry No 4 No No No microSD No 10/100 b/g/n 4.1 Yes Yes 17 No
Pi 3 Model
B
(continued)

5
Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware
6
Table 1-2. (continued)
Chapter 1

Name PCIe USB[2] Storage Networking Communication Generic I/O

2 3 Device On-­board Flash SATA Eth. Wi-­Fi Bt. I2C SPI GPIO Analog
slots
Raspberry No 4 No No No microSD No 10/100 No No Yes Yes 17 No
Pi 2 Model
B
Intel Galileo 1 1 No Yes 8 MB SD No 10/100 No No Yes Yes 20 12-bit
Gen 2[46] mini Flash ADC, 6
+ 8 KB PWM
EEPROM
Banana Pi No 2 No OTG 8GB microSD USB to GbE a/b/ 4 Yes Yes 40 12-Bit-­
M3[137] eMMC SATA g/n ADC
2.0 (CON1
Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

adapter for
Touch)
 Name PCIe USB[2] Storage Networking Communication Generic I/O
2 3 Device On-­board Flash SATA Eth. Wi-­Fi Bt. I2C SPI GPIO Analog
slots
Chapter 1

Banana Pi No 2 No OTG No microSD No GbE a/b/ No Yes Yes 40 12-Bit-­

M2 g/n ADC
(CON1
for
Touch)
Banana No 2 No OTG No SD SATA GbE No No Yes Yes 26 12-Bit-­
Pi[11] 2.0 ADC
(CON1
for
Touch)

7
Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware
Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

As of this writing, the most popular SBCs today are the Raspberry Pi
and Banana Pi. They are equally popular with hobbyists and serious users.
While Raspberry Pi runs OSes like Noobs, Raspbian, and Windows IoT,
Banana Pi run Linux and Android 4.x. Raspberry Pi developed from Model
Zero to the current one, which is 3 Model B+ and, as you can see from
Table 1-2, there have been huge hardware improvements. Raspberry Pi 3
B+ how has an ARM Cortex-A53 1.4GHz CPU, which is an improvement
over the Raspberry Pi 3 B, which had an ARM Cortex-A53 1.2GHz CPU. The
RAM size has not changed; however, there is an enhancement in Wi-Fi,
which now has the capability of up 5GHz transfers. The Ethernet support
has been increased from 100Mbps to 300Mbps. The use of Banana Pi is
preferred by users who have projects that are closely linked with mobile
applications since the operating system is Android which, although built
on Linux, has Android as the kernel for its operations. For the projects in
this book I have chosen Raspberry Pi. The operating system we are going
to use is Raspbian, which is an adaptation of the Debian OS. We are not
using Noobs because we want to make commercial-grade applications on
the SBC and we are not using Windows IoT since we need an OS that has a
desktop and development IDE embedded in it. So the choice of Raspbian
is pretty obvious.
Use Table 1-3 to help you decide which Raspberry Pi to use for your
projects.

8
 Table 1-3. Raspberry Pi Technical Specifications
Raspberry Pi RAM Processor USB Ethernet Wi-Fi Bluetooth HDMI Other MicroSD
Platform Video

Raspberry Pi A+ 512MB 700 MHz 1 port - - - Yes DSI, Yes

ARM11 Composite
Chapter 1

Raspberry Pi B+ 512MB 700 MHz 4 ports 10/100Mbps - - Yes DSI, Yes

ARM11 Composite
Raspberry Pi 2 B 1GB 900 MHz 4 ports 10/100Mbps - - Yes DSI, Yes
Quad-­ Composite
Core ARM
Cortex-A7
Raspberry Pi 3 B 1GB 1.2 GHz, 4 ports 10/100Mbps 802.11n 4.1 Yes DSI, Yes
Quad-­Core Composite
64-bit ARM
Cortex A53
(continued)

9
Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware
10
Chapter 1

Table 1-3. (continued)

Raspberry Pi RAM Processor USB Ethernet Wi-Fi Bluetooth HDMI Other MicroSD
Platform Video

Raspberry Pi 3 B+ 1GB 1.4 GHz 4 ports 300/Mbps/ 802.11ac 4.2 Yes DSI, Yes
64-bit ARM PoE Composite
Cortex A53
Raspberry Pi Zero 512MB 1 GHz 1 micro - - - Mini-­ - Yes
single-core USB HDMI
ARM11
Raspberry Pi Zero 512MB 1 GHz 1 micro - 802.11n 4.1 Mini-­ - Yes
Wireless single-core USB HDMI
ARM11
Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware
 Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

Before we move on to the topic of microcontrollers in the next section,

let’s look at a very important aspect of the Raspberry Pi architecture,
which is the overlay of GPIO pins on the SBC board. These pins are used
for communication with auxiliary hardware such as sensors or other
microcontrollers that can do serial communication such as Arduino.
Figure 1-1 shows the GPIO overlay of Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+.

Figure 1-1. GPIO pin overlay for Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

In Figure 1-1, you can see that there are a total 40 GPIO pins. They
have a structure and it is important that you understand it in order to use
it. The pins are numbered from 1 to 40 in the diagram. Pin 1 and 17 are for
supplying power output to your device (3.5 volts). Pins 2 and 4 are used for
giving a power output of 5 volts each. Pins numbered 6, 9, 14, 20, 25, 30, 34

11
Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

and 39 are used for grounding the circuit. The rest of the pins are used for
GPIO. You will be using this information later when you create a complete
circuit for some IoT-based solutions.
Let’s now discuss microcontrollers and how they are used.

Single-Board Microcontrollers
SBMs are microcontrollers built into a single circuit board; they are used
in industrial and commercial applications to interface between industrial
and commercial devices such as ones that use serial bus communication.
They are used in applications to develop solutions requiring interfacing
with industrial machines or network interfaces such as ones requiring
Modbus communication protocol.
Arduino is a very popular single-board microcontroller and is used by
hobbyists and students to learn hardware implementations and how to
control and build hobby machines that interface with common C and C++
programs. However, we are going to use Arduino for an industrial-grade
purpose. Let’s compare three models from the Arduino line in order to
select the best microcontroller for our purpose.
Arduino Uno, Arduino Mega, and Arduino Mega 2560 are the three
models we are going to use for our comparison. All three single-board
microcontrollers use a 16MHz frequency processor. The printed circuit
board dimensions of the Mega and Mega 2560 are higher than the Arduino
Uno, which is smaller than both of them by half in length at 2.7 inches x
2.1 inches to 4 inches x 2.1 inches. The Arduino Mega 2560 has the highest
flash memory of 256kb, whereas Arduino Uno has the lowest flash memory
of 32kb. Arduino Mega has 128kb. Flash memory is very important as far as
SBMs are concerned because whatever programs you write for controlling
the hardware through your application has to be written to the flash
memory first. If the flash memory is low, you cannot write an industrial-­
grade application on top of it. Both the Mega models have higher EEPROM

12
 Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

and SRAM than the Arduino Uno; also, the Mega models have 54 GPIO
pins while the Uno has just 14 pins. Why do we need more pins for our
applications? We will be using our applications for communicating with
serial Modbus communication interfaces which may need two or three
devices connected at the same time. If the number of pins is less, we will be
limited in having parallel devices. So we need higher pins for this purpose.
So the best model for us is the Arduino Mega 2560, which has the
highest flash memory.

Arduino Mega 2560

Figure 1-2 shows the GPIO overlay of the Arduino Mega 2560 and its
communication architecture.

Figure 1-2. Arduino Mega 2560 architecture

You can see the area marked as GPIO pins in the single-board
computer diagram in Figure 1-2. This model supports both digital pins
and analog pins. Digital pins are used to control and communicate with
devices such as digital sensors, and analog pins are used to communicate
with analog devices such as analog sensors. This model has a USB
interface, which is used for serial bus communication with another device
such as a SBC like the Raspberry Pi. You will look at this in detail later in

13
Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

the part of the book on how to connect and communicate between the
Raspberry Pi and Arduino. Figure 1-3 shows the overlay of GPIO pins on
the Arduino Mega 2560 board.

Figure 1-3. Arduino Mega 2560 GPIO pins overlay

As you can see in the figure, the pin numbers starting from D mean
digital pins; these are the slots where you will connect digital sensors
and devices. The pins starting from A are analog pins and can be used
to communicate with analog devices. For now, this is what you need to
understand. You will look at all of this in detail once you start to assemble
your system.

I oT sensors
IoT is an extension of internet connectivity to everyday physical devices
and objects. When devices like sensors and internet connectivity are
added to it and embedded to physical devices like art objects or any other
object that display information on creation date, an artist description of
the object, recently modified date, etc., then the IoT is formed. We now
have the concept of automatic reordering cabinets which can order food

14
 Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

online as they gets empty upon consumption. By embedding IoT sensors

in everyday objects we are making them smart and accessible for human
betterment.
The common IoT sensors available on the market work with both the
Raspberry Pi and Arduino because they use GPIO pins to communicate.
Table 1-4 lists the common types of sensors that can be used both on
Raspberry Pi and Arduino.

Table 1-4. Common Types of IoT Sensors and Their Purposes

Types of Sensors Purpose

Machine vision Optics and ambient light detection

Proximity and GPS location and presence of objects
location
Temperature Detecting atmospheric temperature in air, soil, and water
Humidity/moisture Detecting atmospheric humidity in air and soil
Acoustic Detecting infra and ultrasound vibrations in the atmosphere
Chemicals Detecting gas content in air, soil, and water
Flow Detecting air and water flow in enclosed areas such as pipes
Electromagnetic Detecting electromagnetic levels in the environment
Acceleration Detecting the tilt of a connected electronic device
Load/weight Detecting change in load or weight in the environment which
is being monitored

You can see from Table 1-4 that there are a variety of sensors available
and they range from digital to analog to measure and detect objects using Wi-
Fi cameras to detecting a change in weight or load on an electronic device.
The uses and applications of these sensors are limitless and can give fresh life
to an IoT application. You will be using these common types of sensors in this
book and I will outline them in more detail as you build your solutions.

15
Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

D
 rones
A drone is defined by Wikipedia (https://simple.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle) as an unmanned aerial vehicle
operated through remote control devices. Drones usually have a small
microcontroller embedded inside them which has the capability to detect
changes in air pressure, the proximity of objects, acceleration, etc. It has
many IoT sensors embedded within it, making it smarter than manned
planes. However, there are very few automatic drones that do not require
human supervision to fly and work. Most drones have human supervisors
who control their activities through a remote control mechanism.
You will be using an industrial grade drone in the solution for the
telecom domain case study. You will need an industrial grade drone that
can take payloads up to 3.5 pounds or 1.5 kgs and has a range of 5 km since
you will be flying it for detection purposes around an area in a particular
locality. The minimum flight time you need is 30 minutes because this is
the minimum time required to gather some decent data to apply machine
learning. These types of drones are definitely not cheap; they start at
$2,500.

M
 odbus Device
You will be using another device in the energy segment of the case study.
A Modbus device is a standard communication protocol for connecting to
industrial devices, such as machines to a computer. They are also used to
gather and send data. There is a master device or microcontroller that uses
the Modbus protocol to communicate with its slaves, which can be up to
247 in number. This makes the protocol very robust, which is the reason I
chose an Arduino Mega 2560 single-board microcontroller (because it has
a lot of space for analog and digital pins on its board for communication).

16
 Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

Disclaimer Before proceeding further, I would like to warn you

of the risk associated with using this Modbus device as the energy
meter. It is an electric appliance and carries the risk of short-­
circuiting if not connected properly. It can also be dangerous to
human life if not used as per its instruction manual. It can also
burn and damage your Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards if wrong
connections are made. So if you are not comfortable with electric
connections, I strongly advise you to not use this device or to get
expert help from a local electrical technician to make the proper
connections. Neither I nor the publisher can be held responsible in
any way whatsoever for any kind of damages, either material or to
life. User discretion is advised.

In the industrial world, three-phase Modbus energy meters are used,

but this is difficult to replicate in a normal environment, so I recommend
using a single-phase energy meter instead, which uses the Modbus RTU
communication protocol. There are plenty of options available from
companies such as Schneider Electric and others.

Required Software
For running the exercise in this book, you will need Python 3.x installed.
I recommend you use the default Python installation that comes with the
Raspbian OS for this purpose. Python is a simple distribution and it does
not require any installation whatsoever, unlike Anaconda. All the coding
exercises in this book work on this version of Python. The exercises and
solutions in this book do not support Windows nor have they been tested
on any version of Windows. Using the Raspbian OS is a must to make
them work. Please follow the steps for installation that are given in the
installation section of this book.

17
Chapter 1 Getting Started: Necessary Software and Hardware

You will also be using the Arduino IDE to communicate between the
Arduino and Raspberry Pi, so the Arduino is going to work as a slave to
the Raspberry Pi in your solutions. This can be installed via the apt-get
command, which you will see later in the installation part of the book.

Summary
This chapter covered SBCs and how they have developed historically.
You learned about the most popular SBCs in the market, such as Banana
Pi, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino. In an in-depth comparison, you explored
the features of popular SBCs in terms of USB, storage, networking, and
communication features. You also learned about the Raspberry Pi and
more specifically the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ that you will be using to
use as a master node in your IoT and IIoT projects later in this book. You
learned about the GPIO pins located on the Raspberry Pi and their uses.
You also learned about the single-board microcontrollers and how they
are different from the single-board computers. You also learned that the
single-board microcontrollers in IoT and IIoT applications are generally
used as slaves to the single-board computers like Raspberry Pi. You also
saw that the most popular single-board microcontroller is the Arduino and
you looked at a table about the types of SBMs and feature information like
processors, I/O modules, frequency, voltage, etc.
You then looked at the Arduino Mega 2560 and its layout and learned
about its GPIO pins. Then you learned about the most important topic
of the book: IoT sensors and their types and applications. You also
learned about drones, as they will be used to collect data for the telecom
application in this book. You learned about a Modbus device and how it
is used to build a commercial application. Lastly, you got a list of software
that will be used through this book.

18
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
rehearsal of ancient seers, reads history thus.

“How the wilde and sauage people vsed a naturall poesie in versicle and
rime as our vulgar is” (chapter v); and “How the riming poesie came first
to the Grecians and Latins, and had altered and almost spilt their maner
of poesie” (chapter vi). Classification into heroic, lyric, etc., and then into
comedy, tragedy, ode, elegy, etc., is followed (chapter xxxi) by a review of
English poetry as meager for a roll of honor as it is undiscriminating in
criticism.
Book II, Proportion Poeticall, is a misguided prosody. “Proportion” is
exhibited (chapter ii) in “staff” (i.e., stave or stanza); (iii) in “measure”
(i.e., feet) estimated by the number of syllables without assigning a
distinct function to “accent”; (v) in caesura ranged with “comma, colon,
periodus,” terms transferred from rhetoric to serve as aspects of rhythm;
(vi and following) in “concord,” which includes rime, accent, time, “stir,”
and “cadence”; (xi) in “position”; and finally in “figure,” square stanzas,
triangles, ovals, suitable to emblems and other devices. Through this
confusion and deviation the typical English stress habit glimmers so faintly
as never to be distinct. “How Greek and Latin feet might be applied in
English” (xiii) leads in the closing chapters to “a more particular
declaration of the metrical feet of the ancient poets.”
Book III, Ornament, is a long and elaborate classification of figures of
speech.[60] It ends conventionally with typical faults, with decorum, and,
in tardy caution, with Horace’s ars celare artem.

At the end of the sixteenth century, then, these Englishmen could

still assume, with Ascham fifty years earlier, that English poetry had
no valid tradition of its own, still seek to revive it by classicism. That
classicism should be not only revival of ancient stanza and imitation
of ancient style, as with the Pléiade, but even conformity to ancient
metric might rather have been proposed in France or Italy, where
vernacular verse had kept much of the Latin rhythmical habit. In
England, where the vernacular tradition determined the verse
pattern by the Germanic habit of stress, the proposal was
foredoomed as futile. The insistence of the classical cult nevertheless
lingers in serious discussion. The correspondence of Gabriel Harvey
with Spenser on this point may be playful, or even partly satirical;
but Harvey was a fanatic, and even Spenser sometimes read
Chaucer’s verse strangely, sometimes in his poetical youth made
strange experiments. The item that lingered longest in discussion,
perhaps because it was common to both verse traditions, is rhyme.
Thomas Campion’s Arte of English Poesie (1602)[61] attacked this
specifically and with more understanding of English rhythms than
Webbe had or Puttenham. Samuel Daniel replied with a correct but
feeble Defence of Ryme (1603).[62] Classicism could attempt to
deviate English verse the more easily when even poets and men of
some learning did not understand the linguistic development of their
own vernacular.

13. PATRIZZI
Patrizzi’s poetic (Della poetica di Francesco Patrici la deca
disputata ... Ferrara, 1586) renews the quarrel with Aristotle begun
in his rhetoric.

The sub-title goes on: “in which by history, by arguments, and by

authority of the great ancients is shown the falsity of the opinions most
accepted in our times concerning poetic. There is added the Trimerone of
the same author in reply to the objections raised by Signor Torquato
Tasso[63] against his defence of Ariosto.” The ten sections severally
inquire: I concerning poetic inspiration (furore poetico), II whether poetry
originated in the causes assigned by Aristotle, III whether poetry is
imitation, IV whether the poet is an imitator, V whether poetry can be
written in prose, VI whether plot (favola) is rather distinctive of the poet
than verse, VII whether Empedocles as a poet was inferior to Homer, VIII
whether poetry can be made from history, IX whether ancient poems
imitated by harmony and rhythm, X whether the modes of imitation are
three.

The divisions obviously overlap, and there is confusion in VII (152)

between the origin of poetry and its essential character, in VIII (168)
between historical material and history. Section VIII also misses the
point of Aristotle’s creative characterization for poetic consistency.
These misinterpretations, common enough at the time, are due with
Patrizzi to his missing Aristotle’s idea of imitation as the distinctive
poetic form of composition. Aristotle thinking of composition remains
dark or wrong to Patrizzi thinking of style.[64] Thus he is typical of
that general Renaissance difficulty with Aristotle which came from
looking the other way. Even after Tasso and Castelvetro,
Renaissance poetic kept its preoccupation with style.

14. DENORES
Jason Denores, on the contrary, made his Poetica a digest of
Aristotle with a tabular view at the end of each section (Poetica di
Iason Denores, nella qual per via di definitione & divisione si tratta
secondo l’opinion d’Aristotele della tragedia, del poema heroico, &
della comedia ... Padua, 1588). The book has no critical grasp.

Section I (Tragedy) classifies characterization by types (good rulers, bad

rulers, etc.) and by the sophistic headings for encomium. “Appropriateness
of the traits of the tragic personae consists in conformity (decoro) to age,
emotion, sex, country, profession” (folio 24, verso). In a word, it is
consistency. Chapter IX sums up what makes “una perfettissima tragedia”;
and the concluding chapter (X) exemplifies an ideal tragic plot
(argomento) by a novella of Boccaccio.
Section II (Epic) imposes the obligation of a single action as against the
Achilleis of Statius, the Metamorphoses of Ovid, “and many of the
romances of our time” (58). The Aeneid has not one action (63) and is not
so well extended (distesa) as the Odyssey (66). Denores thinks that
Aristotle intends the same demands as to plot (favola, Chapter I) and
even as to component parts (Chapter VI) as for tragedy. Reviewing as
before in Chapter IX, he again demonstrates in Chapter X by a story of
Boccaccio.
Section III (Comedy) is merely an adaptation of the headings for
tragedy. Denores even makes bold to say: “But since Aristotle seems to
intend that the parts of comedy should be as many as for tragedy,
therefore we have for convenience attributed to comedy prologue,
episode, exode. The chorus we have not included, since in general it
seems not to have been used” (folio 138, verso). This section, too, is
concluded by a review and a demonstration from Boccaccio.
 15. VAUQUELIN
The poetic of the Sieur Vauquelin de la Fresnaye is important
mainly for confirmation at the end of the century (L’Art poétique de
Vauquelin de la Fresnaye, ou l’on peut remarquer la perfection et le
défaut des anciennes et des modernes poésies; text of 1605 edited
by Georges Pellissier,[65] Paris, 1885). Conceived in 1574 and
embracing the ideas of the Pléiade, it was still unfinished in 1585
and finally published at Caen only two years before the gentleman
poet’s death. The latter part of the sub-title refers to the addition of
a sort of catalogue raisonné of poets. Seventeen hundred and sixty
Alexandrine couplets survey poetry in three books as style and
metric; for composition enters rarely and in terms of rhetoric.
Though Aristotle is cited, the base is once more the “Ars poetica” of
Horace. Once more poetry is “speaking pictures” (I. 226); once more
the Pléiade repudiates balades and rondeaux (I. 546). The doctrine
of appropriateness (bienséance, il decoro) indicates characterization
by type (II. 330; III. 499); and the ideal poetic combination is of
instruction with delight (III. 609, utile-dulce). Instead of saying that
Vauquelin outlived his age,[66] we may rather reflect that change in
doctrine had been slow and was not yet recognized generally.

16. SUMMARY
In the variety of these poetics appear certain habits and
tendencies significant of the period. First, the Renaissance
gentleman scholar finds it becoming not only to write verse,
especially Latin verse, but to discuss poetic. Sound taste and
informed judgment in poetry, as in painting and sculpture, give him
rank as accomplished. The people assembled by Castiglione to
discuss the ideal courtier agree on this; and indeed several of them
might have written the dialogues examined above. Modern readers
impatient at the willingness to talk from the book without
independent thinking should beware of disparaging the value of a
general obligation to be informed about poetry. But even the
Renaissance gentlemen who were in the stricter sense scholars seem
content with learning for itself. Instead of interpreting and
advancing, they exhibit.
The confusion about imitation is too general to be attributed to
the stupidity of individuals. It reflects the clash of two conceptions:
Aristotle’s idea of imitating human life[67] by focusing its actions and
speech in such continuity as shall reveal its significance, an idea of
composition; and the humanist idea of imitating classical style. As
ideas, the two have nothing to do with each other; but they tripped
each other in fact. For the first was new, not yet understood either
exactly or generally; and the second was a widespread habit of
thought. Imitation suggested classicism. Aristotle, being an ancient,
must in some way be reconciled to this. Meantime it is evident,
especially from the more commonplace discussions, that though the
theory might not be clear, the practice inclined toward dilation and
borrowing. Ciceronianism, even while it waned, had spread far
beyond Cicero. Bembo’s imitation of Petrarch was not a reproach; it
was an added virtue.
The cult of the great period does not preclude citation of Claudian,
Statius, Silius Italicus; and Scaliger adds Ausonius and Sidonius.
Even Apuleius is not excluded; and space is occasionally found for
the dullness of Aulus Gellius and Macrobius. The “Greek Romances”
of Achilles Tatius, Apollonius or Heliodorus find place not only with
Cinthio, Scaliger, and Vauquelin, but also with Ronsard and Sidney.
Indeed, those poetic habits summed up in the term Alexandrianism
and corresponding to the decadent rhetoric called sophistic, crop out
often enough to suggest a considerable vogue. The sophistic recipe
for encomium is accepted by Ronsard; and there is common
approval, in doctrine as in practice, of parenthetical dilation by
descriptive show-pieces. So the rhetoric of Hermogenes, embraced
by Camillo and Partenio for poetic, is mentioned elsewhere with
respect. Alexandrianism is at least an inclination of the Renaissance.
 But the commonest sign of the times is the unabated vogue of
Horace’s “Ars poetica”. It is gospel as much to the Renaissance as it
had been to the Middle Age. The cynical explanation would be its
very shallowness and conventionality; but probably the deeper
reason is that Renaissance thinking on poetic, as Horace’s, was
essentially rhetorical. Here, at any rate, is the main significance of
these poetics. Various as they may be otherwise, they have this in
common. Tasso stands out as an exception, in theory as in practice,
by his clear view of poetic as a distinct art of composition; and he is
supported by Castelvetro’s penetrative interpretation of the Poetic of
Aristotle. But Vauquelin has not heard them; and even Sidney,
though he sees the distinction, still falls back on rhetoric. Even to the
end of the sixteenth century, Renaissance poetic was largely
rhetoric.[68]
 Chapter VIII
PROSE NARRATIVE

1. TALES
Nothing is more characteristic of the Renaissance than the
abundance of tales. Printed in large collections, they evidently
answered a steady demand; and they furnished many plots for the
Elizabethan stage. Often significant of Renaissance taste in stories,
they are generally less interesting in narrative art.

(a) Bandello

Bandello dedicates each of his 224 novelle to some friend in a

prefatory letter which usually represents it as actually told in his
hearing by a person whom he names (Le quattro parti de le novelle
del Bandello riprodotte sulle antiche stampe di Lucca [1554] e di
Lione [1573] a cura di Gustavo Balsamo-Crivelli, Turin, 1910). The
stories are further documented by proper names; or Bandello tells us
that he has substituted fictitious ones to shield well-known families.
Novella 16, for instance, of Part I “happened last winter in this city
of Mantua.” Though this and many others are conventional fabliaux
or stock friar tales, they are all alike told for their news value, as
striking or exciting. Bandello seems more intent on finding good
stories than on making stories good. Hence he is more significant of
the appetite and taste of his time than as a story-teller.
The Elizabethans, who often hunted in his collection, often
through French or English translations, created from some of his
persons characters as convincing as Juliet and the Duchess of Malfi;
but characterization rarely detains Bandello himself. Since he may be
content with a mere clever retort or a dirty trick, many of his tales
are brief, and many of these are mere anecdote. Even so the
obligatory introduction summarizing the situation may occupy a
fourth, or even a third; and the rehearsal of the facts may suffice
without the salience that would give them narrative interpretation.

Novella 9 of Part I in ten pages exhibits a husband so jealous as to

violate the confessional and thereupon murder his wife. First displaying
the luxury of Milan, the scene of the story, and even pausing to comment
on the Milanese dialect, it proceeds to slow exposition of the situation,
with dialogue of minor persons not active in the story, and with lingering
over minor details. The only scene developed before our eyes is the
violated confession. Thus bungled, the ugly story becomes more tedious
than tragic.

Lack of salience, though not often so flagrant, is habitual. Without

salience, without sufficient motivation, Bandello’s tales are oftener a
mere series of events than a sequence of scenes. They are not
consistently developed by action. Instead of revealing themselves
progressively before our eyes, his persons make speeches or even
think aloud. Their speeches are far oftener oratory than narrative
dialogue. Indeed, they may repeat what has been already thought or
done. The very inequality in the collection betrays Bandello’s
weakness in narrative composition. His ornate style is fairly constant
in elegant fluency; but his composition is hit or miss. He has no
steady command of story management.
Nor is his art sure in the eighteen longer tales. Of these, twelve
(Part I. 5, 17, 21, 34, 45, 49; Part II. 24, 28, 36, 40, 41, 44),
averaging about twenty-three pages, have essentially the same slack
composition as the shorter tales. The remaining six deserve more
attention.

I. 2 (26 pages) Ariobarzanes, proud and generous courtier, endured

from Artaxerxes a series of humiliations, and emerged triumphant. The
tale begins with the posing of a question: is the life of a courtier
essentially liberality and courtesy, or obligation and debt? The series of
trials is cumulative enough to give a certain sequence; but that it involved
a struggle against detraction is not disclosed until the final oration, and
thus does not operate as motivation.
I. 15 (23 pages) Two clever wives conspired to outwit the intrigues of
their husbands, delivered them from prison, and reconciled them to each
other. Here are complication and solution, but through a plot as artificial
as it is ingenious. Though the detail is livelier, the action is slow. It halts in
the middle; and the dénouement comes finally through a long oration
rehearsing the whole story in court. The only characterization is of a third
lady in the sub-plot.
I. 22 (25 pages) Timbreo, betrothed to Fenicia, repudiated her through
a dastardly trick of his rival. The lady, who was supposed to be dead of
shame, hid herself in a villa. The rival repenting and confessing, both men
vowed to set her name right. At the request of her father marrying
“Lucilla,” Timbreo found her to be Fenicia. The rival married a sister, and
the King adorned the wedding with royal festivities, dowries for the brides,
and posts for the men. Here again are complication and solution. Though
some of the scenes are realized, there is not that salience of critical
situations which leads a narrative sequence onward. The royal wedding at
the end, for instance, has as much space as the repudiation. Fenicia is
presented with some hints of characterization.
I. 27 (27 pages) Don Diego and Ginevra, two very young country
gentlefolk, falling in love utterly at sight, the girl turned so violently
jealous as to deny all attempts at reconciliation; and the boy in despair
went far away to end his days as a hermit in a cave. An old friend of both
families, finding his retreat, reasoned with him in vain, but roused his
hope by promising to move the girl. The girl was so far from being moved
that she planned to elope with an adventurer. The old friend frustrated
this and, in spite of the girl’s fury, carried her off toward the boy’s cave.
Her pride remaining quite obstinate, the old friend finally lost patience and
told her to go her own foolish way; but the boy, coming to meet them,
showed so deep and unselfish devotion that she fell on his neck. This tale,
which Bandello had from Spain, has not only complication and solution,
but, in spite of some unnecessary interruption, an engaging narrative
progress. Besides the constant motivation of the persons’ youth, there is
definite characterization of the old friend, of the boy, and especially of the
girl. No other tale of the collection equals this in narrative composition.
II. 9 (35 Pages) The now familiar tale of Romeo and Juliet is told
straight through with little salience and with little characterization.
II. 37 (48 pages) Edward III, suing a lady long in vain, at last had to
marry her. The lady’s first high-spirited and intelligent response has some
 distinct characterization; but the situation is repeated again and again
with cumulative urgency until this longest of the tales becomes tedious.

Even these better longer tales, then, are quite unequal in story
management. Bandello seems to take his stories as he finds them.
His literary fiction of writing a story that he has heard seems
essentially true in that sense. As he has not discerned in Boccaccio
the various achievement of a narrative artist, so he does not see
what makes his own best tales good, much less shape others
accordingly. He is not creative.

(b) Marguerite de Navarre

The collection of tales made by Marguerite de Navarre, probably

with her literary household, and now known as the Heptameron, was
first printed as Les Amants fortunés in 1558. Obviously patterned on
Boccaccio’s Decameron, it uses the literary frame of an aristocratic
house party more realistically. The dialogue in comment on the
stories is developed to characterize each person. Thus the collection
is made a series of cases (exempla) for social comment. But the
tales themselves are inferior. Told simply, without much flavor, “for
fear” says the preface, “that beauty of style might prejudice
historical truth,” they are usually lucid, somewhat conversational,
often lax. There is no mastery of narrative movement. The steadfast
purity of the wife is, indeed, a constant motivation in II. 3; but the
few salient scenes hardly constitute a sequence. The mere series of
events in III. 1 makes eighteen pages tedious and ends in mere
reversal. The dialogue of the retold Châtelaine de Vergi (VII. 10; 20
pages) is oftener oratory than narrative. The longest of the tales (I.
10; 32 pages), a romance covering years, has so little salience that it
might as well have ended earlier. Most of the tales are either
anecdote or fabliau of about seven pages. Put forward as actual,
they are sometimes stock medieval tales, especially of the stupidity
or brutality of friars, and where they appear to narrate facts,
sometimes merely report them without realizing any moment as a
scene. Boccaccio, too, has simple anecdotes, in which all the charm
is of style; he too prolongs some of his stories without salience; but
among his many experiments are five novelle (I. 4, II. 1 and 2, VIII.
8, IX. 6) intensified by their sequence. Far from noticing this
difference, the writers of the Heptameron show little awareness of
narrative composition. The accompaniment of discussion is better
managed than the stories themselves.

(c) Giraldi Cinthio

The collection Hecatommithi (hundred fables) of Giovan-Battista

Giraldi, known as Giraldi Cinthio,[69] accumulated through years.
Begun apparently in his young manhood, it had reached seventy
tales in 1560,[70] was published in 1565, and reprinted in 1566,
1574, 1580, and 1584.[71] (Hecatommithi, ouero cento nouelle, di M.
Giovanbattista Giraldi Cinthio, nobile ferrarese: nelle quali, oltre le
diletteuole materie, si conoscano moralità vtilissime a gli huomini per
il benviuere, & per destare altresi l’intelletto alla sagacità; potendosi
da esse con facilità apprendere il vero modo di scriuere toscano ...
4th edition, Venice, 1580.) Thus the moralizing suggestion of the
title is confirmed by the sub-title. Here are offered one hundred—
indeed, with the preliminary decade, one hundred and ten—
exempla. Nor is the collection made less formidable by being
classified: ten tales to exhibit the superiority of wedded love, ten to
show the risks of dealing with courtesans, ten on infidelity, ten on
chivalry, etc. Nevertheless the tales are not all moralities, and in
some the moral is not even clear; for here once more are both
fabliaux and anecdotes. The frame is once more Boccaccio’s. Young
aristocrats, escaped from the sack of Rome (1527), board ship and
on a slow cruise entertain one another with tales. The style, though
sometimes slack and diffuse, is not dilated for decoration. There is a
leisurely introduction; each tale is prefaced by comment on the
preceding; and each decade has an epilogue of discussion and
verse. The whole ends with a roll of fame commemorating some
hundred and fifty men of letters in terza rima, and adding a list of
eminent ladies.
 Running generally from three pages to ten, the tales, even the few that
run to fourteen, remain scenario. II. ii. recounts in fourteen pages a
Persian tale of Oronte and Orbecche. V. x. tells at the same length how
the virtuous wife of Filogamo, shipwrecked, resisted the Prince of Satalia,
and that he was thereupon expelled. In X. viii two quarreling nobles come
to blows, are imprisoned by King Louis, and subsequently reconciled by
the courtesy of one. Even the tale of the Moorish captain, which has
hardly more than eight pages, is not developed narratively. Looking back
to it from Othello, one distinguishes the motivation discerned by
Shakspere; but in Giraldi’s tale this is either generalized or merely hinted;
it does not conduct the narrative.

The composition, then, is generally scenario. If the dialogue

sometimes rises to narrative economy, it also becomes sometimes
mere oration. Character, often merely typical, rarely suffices for
motivation. Unnecessary spreading of the time-lapse betrays a
carelessness of focus. There is no habit either of realizing scenes
concretely in action, or of conducting them in a sequence.

A typical example is I. v. Pisti, condemned in Venice for killing a man

that had sought to debauch his wife, escaped to Ferrara and was banned.
The situation is first propounded, and then recounted by his wife. She and
his daughter being left in poverty, he wrote anxiously, urging them to
maintain their honor. He was betrayed into captivity by two supposed
friends, that their father, who was also under Venice ban, might by
delivering him up reinstate himself. The father, refusing to take advantage
of their treachery, liberated Pisti on condition that he forgive them. Pisti,
returning secretly to Venice, bade his wife denounce him to the Signory
and claim the reward for his head. She refused in an oration so fervent as
to attract the guard, who thereupon arrested him. Going with him to
court, she so told the whole story that the Signory pardoned Pisti,
restored his property, gave the reward to his daughter for dowry, and
even pardoned his false friends’ father. The motivation of an ingenious
complication and solution is all here—in the abstract. But the tale in eight
pages merely sums up or orates instead of realizing it in scenes. The
novella thus remains an exemplum of generosity, instead of becoming a
story of Pisti’s wife.

Thus Giraldi, seeking with Bandello news interest and therefore

melodrama, proposing an edification often quite dubious, ignored
the deeper narrative values. Reporter, manipulator, moralizer, he is
not a creator.

(d) Belleforest, Painter, and Fenton

The collections of tales, then, show Renaissance story-telling as a

regression from the fourteenth century. The narrative art of
Boccaccio, to say nothing of Chaucer, has suffered eclipse. Far from
being advanced, it is not even discerned. Renaissance story-telling is
generally as inferior as it is abundant. The few well managed stories
stand out in sharp relief against the mass of convention and of
bungling. But this is not all. Bandello’s tales as rendered (1566-1576)
in French by Belleforest and in English through him by Painter and
Fenton, are not merely translated; they are dilated and decorated to
the point of being actually obscured as stories. Bandello’s forty-ninth
tale, already doubled by Belleforest, is trebled in Fenton’s first. Livio
and Camilla, told by Bandello in 1,500 words, has nearly 11,000 in
Belleforest’s twenty-second, and 16,731 in Fenton’s second. The
dilation is by show-pieces of description, by oratory, by moralizing,
by allusions to classical mythology and to the “natural” history
derived from Pliny, and by those balanced iterations known
generically in English as euphuism. Belleforest in his preface (1568)
begs the reader’s pardon for not “subjecting” himself to the style of
Bandello. “I have made a point,” he says, “of recasting it.” His
Continuation informs the Duc d’Orléans in a dedication that he has
“enriched with maxims, stories, harangues, and epistles.” So Painter
must pause to describe.

There might be seene also a certain sharpe and rude situation of craggy
and vnfruictful rocks, which notwithstanding yelded some pleasure to the
Eyes to see theym tapissed with a pale moasie greene, which disposed
into a frizeled guise made the place pleasaunt and the rock soft according
to the fashion of a couerture. There was also a very fayre and wide Caue,
which liked him well, compassed round about with Firre trees, Pine apples,
Cipres, and Trees distilling a certayne Rosen or Gumme, towards the
bottom whereof, in the way downe to the valley, a man might haue
viewed a passing company of Ewe trees, Poplers of all sortes, and Maple
 trees, the Leaues whereof fell into a Lake or Pond, which came by
certaune smal gutters into a fresh and very cleare fountayne right agaynst
that Caue. The knight viewing the auncientry and excellency of the place,
deliberated by and by to plant there the siege of his abode for performing
of his penaunce and life (Vol. III, p. 222, of the 1890 reprint).

Description for itself, without function, and even more plainly the
other habitual means of decoration, show not only the general habit
of dilation, but also the general carelessness of narrative values. So
is smothered even the Spanish tale of Don Diego and Ginevra,[72]
which Bandello had the wit, or the luck, to repeat in its original
sequence. Evidently these versions were looking not to composition,
not to the conduct of the story, but only to style.

(e) Pettie, Lyly, and Greene

William Pettie’s A Petite Pallace of Pettie His Pleasure, containing

many pretie histories by him set forth in comely colours and most
delightfully discoursed (1576) iterates the medieval balance figures
and reënforces them with alliteration. Thus his rendering of the tale
of Scylla and Minos, after an expository summary and due
moralizing, presents:

one Nisus, who had to daughter a damsel named Scilla, a proper sweet
wench, in goodliness a goddess, in shape Venus herself, in shew a saint,
in perfection of person peerless, but in deeds a dainty dame, in manners a
merciless maid, and in works a wilful wench.... But to paint her out more
plainly, she was more coy than comely, more fine than well-favoured,
more lofty than lovely, more proud than proper, more precise than pure.

If there be any place for such style, surely it is not in story. The story
is hardly told; it is decorated, moralized, generalized without
narrative salience. The decoration thus abused by Pettie became a
vogue through John Lyly (1553?-1606). His Euphues, the Anatomy
of Wit (1578) and Euphues and His England (1580) made the
schemata of sophistic, especially isocolon, parison, and paromoion,
[73] a main item in the curious style called euphuism.
 Come therefore to me, all ye lovers that have been deceived by fancy, the
glass of pestilence, or deluded by women, the gate to perdition; be as
earnest to seek a medicine as you were eager to run into a mischief. The
earth bringeth forth as well endive to delight the people as hemlock to
endanger the patient, as well the rose to distil as the nettle to sting, as
well the bee to give honey as the spider to yield poison (Croll’s ed., p. 93).
Yet if thou be so weak, being bewitched with their wiles, that thou hast
neither will to eschew nor wit to avoid their company, if thou be either so
wicked that thou wilt not or so wedded that thou canst not abstain from
their glances, yet at the least dissemble thy grief. If thou be as hot as the
mount Aetna, feign thyself as cold as the hill Caucasus, carry two faces in
one hood, cover thy flaming fancy with feigned ashes, show thyself sound
when thou art rotten, let thy hue be merry when thy heart is melancholy,
bear a pleasant countenance with pined conscience, a painted sheath with
leaden dagger (Ibid., p. 104).

The tiresome heaping of balances and allusions so cumbers narrative

that these books keep little semblance of story.
Nevertheless the habit was continued in the longer English tales,
sometimes called novels, of the 1580’s and 90’s. Greene’s Carde of
Fancie (1584-1587) decorates emotion with allusion and supplies
balances by handfuls.

He manfullie marcht on towards her, and was as hastilie incountred by

Castania, who embracing Gwydonius in her armes, welcommed him with
this salutation.
As the whale, Gwydonius, maketh alwaies signe of great joye at the
sight of the fishe called Talpa Marina, as the Hinde greatlie delighteth to
see the Leopard, as the Lion fawneth at the view of the Unicorne, and as
he which drinketh of the Fountaine Hipenis in Scithia feeleth his mind so
drowned in delight that no griefe, though never so great, is able to
assuage it, so, Gwydonius, I conceive such surpassing pleasure in thy
presence, and such heavenlie felicitie in the sight of thy perfection, that
no miserie though never so monstrous, is able to amaze me, no dolour
though never so direfull is able to daunt me, nor no mishap though never
so perillous is able to make me sinke in sorrow, as long as I injoy thy
presence, which I count a soveraine preservative against all carefull
calamities.
It is not necessary to regard this as quite serious to see that
balanced iteration and learned allusion had become epidemic, and
that both arise from the habit of dilation. For even plain Thomas
Deloney must decorate his clothier Jack of Newbury (1597) with
myth and marvel. That such perversion of narrative, owing
something now and then, perhaps, to the Hypnerotomachia or to
Apuleius, is imitated more specifically from the Greek Romances is
plainest in Sidney’s Arcadia.[74] It is one of the clearest instances of
Renaissance Alexandrianism.

2. RABELAIS
Émile Egger was once moved to protest: “The actual French usage
of 1530 shows nowhere in either speech or writing the diction of
Rabelais.”[75] Every student of Rabelais will recognize this
observation as a lead. It means much more than the truisms that
every eminent author has his own style, and that study of style is
the most constantly fruitful study of literature. It means that
Rabelais makes the special demand of compelling attention always
to his style. His vocabulary[76] ranges from Latinizing to dialect and
jargon; his word-play from reckless puns to various iteration; his
cadences from the clausula of Cicero to mere lists. His volubility
flashes with picturesque concreteness. He is popular, yes, but rarely
in being simple, usually in talking with his readers and in stimulating
them by extravagance. The fifteenth-century extravagance of
Skelton, showing a similar volubility, has less display. Rabelais will
not let us ever forget his style.

Pantagruel rencontra un escolier tout joliet.... “Mon amy, dond viens tu à

ceste heure?” L’escolier luy respondit: “De l’alme, inclyte, et celebre
academie que l’on vocite Lutece.” “Q’est ce à dire?” dist Pantagruel à un
de ses gens. “C’est,” respondit il, “de Paris.” “Tu viens donc de Paris,” dit il.
“Et à quoy passez vous le temps, vous autres estudiants audit Paris?”
Respondit l’escolier: “Nous transfretons la Sequane au dilucule et
crepuscule, nous deambulons par les compites et quadrivies de l’urbe,
nous despumons la verbocination latiale, et comme verisimiles
 amorabonds captons la benevolence de l’omnijuge, omniforme, et
omnigene sexe feminin.... Et si par forte fortune y a rarité ou penurie de
pecune en nos marsupies, et soient exhaustes de metal ferruginé, pour
l’escot nous dimittons nos codices et vestes oppigncrées, prestolans les
tabellaires à venirdes penates et lares patriotiques.” A quoy Pantagruel
dist “Quel diable de langage est cecy? Par dieu, tu es quelque heretique.”
“Segnor no,” dist l’escolier; “car libentissimement des ce qu’illucesce
quelque minutule lesche de jour, je demigre en quelqu’un de ces tant bien
architectés monstiers, et là, me irrorant de belle eau lustrale, grignotte
d’un transon de quelque missique precation de nos sacrificules. Et
submirmillant mes precules horaires, elue et absterge mon anime de ses
inquinamens nocturnes. Je revere les olympicoles. Je venere latrialement
le supernel astripotens.” Je dilige et redame mes proximes. Je serve les
prescrits decalogiques, et selon la facultatule de mes vires n’en discede le
late unguicule.... “Et bren, bren,” dist Pantagruel, “Qu’est ce que veult dire
ce fol? Je croy qu’il nous forge icy quelque langage diabolique, et qu’il
nous charme comme enchanteur.” A quoy dist un de ces gens: “Seigneur,
sans nul doubte ce gallant veult contrefaire la langue des Parisiens; mais il
ne fait que escorcher le latin, et cuide ainsi pindariser; et luy semble bien
qu’il est quelque grand orateur en françois parce qu’il dedaigne l’usance
commun de parler.” A quoy dist Pantagruel, “Est il vray?” L’escolier
respondit: “Segnor missayre, mon genie n’est point apte nate à ce que dit
ce flagitiose nebulon, pour escorier la cuticule de nostre vernacule
gallique; mais vice-versement je gnave, opere, et par veles et rames je
me enite de le locupleter de la redondance latinicome.” “Par dieu,” dit
Pantagruel, “je vous apprendray à parler” (II. vi).

The parody is of that Latinizing “enrichment” of the vernacular

which was a wide preoccupation and the special creed of the
Pléiade. Rabelais, as Erasmus, ridicules its paganizing. The larger
satire is the rendering of the conventions of student wildness in an
iterative learned jargon. For the iteration is not careless. Thus he
prolongs a mere play upon the word Sorbonne:

... ces marauds de sophistes, sorbillans, sorbonagres, sorbinigenes,

sorbonicoles, sorboniformes, sorbonisecques, niborcisans (II. xviii).

Thus he prolongs a parody of legal citations.

 Ayant bien veu, reveu, leu, releu, paperassé, et feuilleté les complainctes,
adjournemens, comparitions, commissions, informations, avant procedés,
productions, allegations, intenditz, contredits, requestes, enquestes,
repliques, dupliques, tripliques, escritures, reproches, griefz, salvations,
recollements, confrontations, acarations, libelles, apostoles, lettres
royaulx, compulsoires, declinatoires, anticipatoires, evocations, envoyz,
renvoyz, conclusions, fins de non proceder, apoinctemens, reliefz,
confessions, exploictz, et autres telles dragées et espiceries d’une part et
d’autre, comme doibt faire le bon juge selon ce qu’en a not. spec. de
ordinario § 3 et tit. de offic. omn. jud. § fin. et de rescript. praesentat., §
1 (III. xxxix).

Thus the resolution of Diogenes to do his part in the defense of

Corinth lets Rabelais stop to amplify the commonplaces of a siege.

When Philip threatened siege, the Corinthians prepared for defense. Some
from the fields to the fortresses brought household goods, cattle, wine,
food, and necessary munitions. Others repaired walls, raised bastions ...
[and so through a series of 25 predicates]. Some polished corselets [and
so through another catalogue of particulars]. Diogenes girt his loins, rolled
up his sleeves, gave his manuscripts to the charge of an old friend [and so
through another series of details].... “Icy beuvant je delibere, je discours,
je resouldz et concluds. Aprés l’epilogue je ris, j’escris, je compose, je boy.
Ennius beuvant escrivoit, escrivant beuvoit. Eschylus (si à Plutarche foy
avez in Symposiacis) beuvoit composant, beauvant composait. Homere
jamais n’escrivit à jeun. Caton jamais n’escrivit qu’aprés boire.” Thus the
resolution gives occasion for eight pages. (Prologue to Tiers Livre.) As
here, the amplification is often oratorical.

This various diffuseness, parody of Latinizing, legal iteration,

oratorical amplitude, is gift of gab, oral expansiveness, passion for
words; it is satire; and ultimately it is search for a reading public.
Taking his cue from the almanacs and giant stories, Rabelais was
exploiting the grotesque. He was clever enough to see that he could
amuse not only the bon bourgeois who bought almanacs, but also
those who had some pretensions to studies. Both, as Ariosto knew,
found relaxation in the grotesque. The latter would appreciate
technical jargon more; but the former would catch enough of its
satire and get some amusement from its very strangeness. Both he
could feed also with the marvels of voyages. For the grotesque is an
adult fairyland.
Rabelais takes us in and out of it, back and forth. Though the
work is largely narrative, it is not progressive story. The persons,
often vividly realized at a given moment, are not advancing to a
destined issue. There is much description, much discussion; and
each has its effect rather by itself than in a reasoned sequence. Thus
the disgusting story of the lady haunted by dogs, one of the most
notorious of his incidental nouvelles, is told quite as much for its
own shock as for any turn it gives to the larger story.
On the whole, Rabelais’ writing is conte, though usually involving
some exposition in aim and some actual comment. The series of
exempla and opinions as to whether Panurge shall marry (III. xxi,
seq.) reaches neither a decision on the marriage nor a conclusion of
character. We find ourselves discussing the mendicant friars,
listening to a discourse on devils, and ending on sheer lore about the
herb Pantagruelion (III. xlix, seq.). All the while the concreteness of
the rendering is vivid in contrast to the conventional generalities of
the collections of tales. The dialogue, instead of being exchange of
orations, sometimes flashes with narrative interaction. Rabelais takes
us traveling, as it were, through many excitements with a group of
voluble grotesques whose ideas are not developed in sequences of
paragraphs, nor their habits in sequences of chapters. He opened
both novel and essay without achieving the form of either. For he
was moving toward that other kind of story and discussion which
ripened in journalism. Integration and continuity are less important
to attract readers than abundance and animation. Instead of making
a point, he often hovers around it with many suggestions. Instead of
giving a scene distinct significance to lead into the next, he plays it
with many overtones. Unsystematic as his various abundance is
certainly, and sometimes confusing, it must be recognized as
creative. Rabelais is not content merely to rehearse, paraphrase, or
decorate. Charged with various lore, his work is never second-hand.
What he seizes he animates.
 The satire of Rabelais, as distinct from his more descriptive
ridicule, is directed oftenest against pedantry. The idea that he
satirizes the Middle Age as an apostle of Renaissance enlightenment
extends a dubious contrast beyond the evidence. For Rabelais is in
some aspects medieval. He was a wandering scholar, a vagans; he
was something of a goliard; and in the way of Godescalc he was a
mauvais clerc. His satire on monks and friars is medieval literary
stock. Indeed, it is much less attack, still less reform, than
excitement. Against medieval education he does not urge
Renaissance enlightenment except in irony.
In a letter of June 3, 1532, he raised a disconcerting question.

How comes it, most learned Tiraqueau, that in the abundant light of our
century, in which by some special gift of the gods we see all the better
disciplines recovered, there are still found everywhere men so constituted
as to be either unwilling or unable to lift their eyes from the more than
Cimmerian darkness of the gothic time to the evident torch of the sun?
[77]

The irony of this is iterated and underlined in the oft-quoted eighth

chapter of his Pantagruel, where Gargantua recalls his youth.

As you may easily understand, the times were not so suited, so

convenient for literature, as the present, and had few such teachers as
you have had. The times were still dark, and still exhaled the
awkwardness and ill luck of the Goths, who had destroyed all good
literature. But by divine goodness light and dignity have been restored to
literature in my time; and I see such improvement that at present I should
hardly be received in the beginning class, though as a man I used to be
reputed the most learned of my time. I say this not in vain boasting,
though I might legitimately do so in writing to you (see Marcus Tullius De
senectute and Plutarch in the book entitled How to praise oneself without
reproach), but to show you my deep affection.
Nowadays all the disciplines have been restored, the languages
reëstablished: Greek, without which ’tis a shame for any one to call
himself learned, Hebrew, Chaldee, Latin; printed editions as elegant as
correct in usage, which were invented in my time by divine inspiration, as
artillery by suggestion of the devil. The whole world is full of scholars, of
 most learned teachers, most ample libraries; and it seems to me that
neither the time of Plato nor that of Cicero offered such convenience for
study as is seen now. Hereafter we need not find in office or in society
any one unpolished by the shop of Minerva. I see brigands, executioners,
adventurers, stableboys of today more learned than the doctors and
preachers of my time. Nay more, women and girls have aspired to that
praise and celestial manna of good instruction.

What is pierced here is not medieval ignorance, but Renaissance

complacency. The pedantry that Rabelais satirizes is of both ages.
His quarrel with the Sorbonne of his own day may have been edged
by the banning of Pantagruel. The book was banned as obscene. It
is obscene. Let us no longer pretend that he attacked obscurantism
as a champion of enlightenment. For whatever his motive, Rabelais
remained singularly detached. He was far from being an apostle of
enlightenment, or of anything else.
Yet he is still cited in some histories as forecasting modern
education. An educational theory has been extracted from him, even
a scheme. To support this, his conventional or picturesque ridicule of
university teaching and of student manners is at most negative. A
positive contribution has been found in his abbey of Thelème (I. lii-
lviii).
Thelème, the ideal abbey that is the scene of the so-called
scheme of education, takes its name probably from that
preposterous allegory Hypnerotomachia,[78] wherein the hero
forsakes the guidance of Reason (Logistica) for that of will
(Thelemia). Its architecture and landscape gardening, again
reminding of Colonna’s pseudo-classical elaboration, receive, with
the furniture and accessories, ten times as much space as the
studies. It has 9,332 suites. Its library abounds in Greek, Latin,
Hebrew, French, Tuscan, and Spanish (omitting English and
German); and its frescoes are of “antiques prouesses.” Outside are
fountains, a hippodrome, a theater, swimming pool, garden,
labyrinth, tennis court, and park. Inside it is supplied with costumers
and furnishers. Its community of men and women, all handsome,
richly dressed, and commanding the six languages well enough to
compose in prose and verse, has no community obligation. Living in
luxury, with the six languages among their pastimes, freed from the
world and from all duties to one another, these privileged souls have
for their community device “Fais ce que voudras.”
The humor of this, which ought to be discernible even to those
preoccupied with schemes of education, might more easily be taken
to imply that irresponsibility plus command of languages is not a
sufficient educational formula even in an ideally luxurious
environment. Since this would be a shrewd satire on the
Renaissance, it may well be what Rabelais meant. Certainly he did
not mean to propose Thelème for adoption as an idea, much less as
a scheme. Do as you please, provided you live in luxury and
command six languages. Is that an educational idea? Is it by any
tenable interpretation an educational scheme? To range Rabelais
with such pioneers of the fifteenth century as Guarino and Vittorino,
or with such coming leaders as Vives and Loyola, is not only to
misinterpret him; it is to do him wrong. His satire is not limited to
the loud and boisterous; he is master also of irony. Let Thelème rest
as he left it, an ironical fantasy.
Nor should Gargantua’s studious day (I. xxiii), no hour unfilled, no
subject neglected, be called a program of education.[79] Rabelais
must have been aware that for educational reform he had no
warrant. Whatever else may be laid to his charge, he was not
pretentious. His own education, interrupted, never carried through in
any field, but widely ranging, gave him not a system, but a
singularly various fund. His reputation for scholarship, recently
urged, is hardly borne out by the few contemporary compliments.
Rather their fewness and their vagueness, in a period of mutual
admiration among scholars, suggest that he was less famous than
he has been made to appear. He was not Latinist enough to detect
the fabrication of the so-called Will of Lucius Cuspidius, which he
published in 1532.[80] His Greek, extending to the translation of
certain well-known Greek works of medicine,[81] may have been
fortified by previous Latin translations. His knowledge of law is
vouched by his abundant use of legal terms, evidence rather of his
friendship with lawyers and his appetite for jargon. He knew
medicine enough to be house physician at the Lyon Hôtel Dieu and
personal physician in the suite of the Cardinal du Bellay. Certainly
this is evidence, almost the only specific evidence, of his
achievement in learning. But it should not imply that he was a
scientist. At most he did not advance the narrow limits of the
medicine current in his time. He was an acceptable practitioner in a
period of prolonged ignorance.
But such generalizations are less suggestive than what has been
laboriously pieced together of his very meager chronology. In 1530
he was matriculated in medicine at the University of Montpellier. In
1532 he was practicing medicine at Lyon and publishing the Latin
letters of the Italian physician Manardi, the Aphorisms of
Hippocrates, the fabricated Cuspidius, and his own Pantagruel. This
in two years. Within the two years preceding 1530 it is suggested
that he may have studied law at Poitiers and visited other
universities. Even if the suggestion could be brought to the dignity of
an inference, what would it guarantee of learning? Except for a
single undated letter from the priory of Ligugé, we have no
documentation on Rabelais from 1521 to 1530. But if indeed he did
study law at Poitiers and did visit other universities before he turned
to medicine, or if he picked up some medicine on the way, then he
was superficially experimenting toward versatility. The issue is
sometimes dodged by calling him a humanist.[82] But though he had
humanist friends, he was obviously not a classicist. Or again, his
learning, because his allusions are astonishingly various, is called
encyclopedic. As a compliment to learning, the adjective is dubious;
but in another sense it is suggestive of his intellectual curiosity and
his acute awareness of words. Knowing that there is much to be
learned, as Dr. Johnson said, from the backs of books, he was alert
to pick up a little of everything. He found that for his new readers
bits of lore had the interest of news. While they liked his samples of
learning and relished his satire on the pedantries of humanism, the
humanists, seeing more in the joke, relished it none the less. It was
gay, but also thoughtful, escape from the solemn Renaissance
fictions of classicism. Rabelais already knew his readers well enough
to carry them wine on both shoulders.
The insistent and various extravagance anticipated journalism in
that it was the cultivation of style as advertisement. Besides
perennial excitements of substance he uses dialect, slang, jargon,
parody, oratory, not in ebullience, not in occasional outbreak, but in
constant parade of style. He is a sensationalist; his readers are to be
shocked and amused. So he turned to the grotesque, and so he
pursued it. He has no winsome persons; his satire has no
indignation; his laughter, no sympathy. In this aspect a most
suggestive contrast is offered by Cervantes. “Cervantes laughed
Spain’s chivalry away” is unjust because it is shallow. From the
beginning and throughout, Don Quixote thrives on what Rabelais
precludes, geniality. The grotesque of Cervantes is human enough to
make us feel a certain social service beyond laughter in attacks on
windmills; and his great achievement is the creation of a grotesque
whom we come to love.

3. HISTORY
History straddles the fundamental division of composition into the
forms of discussion or persuasion on the one hand and, on the other,
those of story or play. For history is now one, now the other, and
now both together. Earlier chronicles, more or less epic, hardly
discuss at all; some recent histories are so bent on analysis as hardly
to narrate at all; and some of the greater histories, ancient or
modern, Thucydides, Tacitus, Macchiavelli, bring the two into
effective combination. In any age this last is so difficult as to
demand superior grasp. Livy, for instance, being generally content
with narrative, hardly makes even his imaginary orations to troops
expository. But Thucydides, narrating effectively, is no less
concerned to instruct his readers in the issues. His “Expedition
against Syracuse” thus became both tragedy and sermon.
 (a) Latin Histories

The fifteenth century shows the advance of history beyond

chronicle in the Latin of Leonardo Bruni, of Arezzo (1369-1444;
Leonardi Aretini historiarum florentini populi libri XII, Florence, 1855-
1860, 3 vols., ed. by Mancini, Leoni, and Tonietti, with the Italian
translation of Donato Acciajuoli). Chronicles nevertheless persisted;
for they still had, perhaps still have, the values realized by
Herodotus. But Bruni undertook and fairly accomplished something
more: “history, which in so many simultaneous events must keep the
longer sequence, explain the causes of single facts, and bring out
the interpretation” (I. 52). Not quite Thucydides or Tacitus, perhaps,
he has clearly moved in their direction. His style is periodic in habit
without often conforming strictly, humanistic without being
laboriously imitative or diffuse, intelligently Ciceronian without being
inhibited by Ciceronianism. The orations inserted after the fashion of
Livy show, indeed, that he felt bound to such amplitude, variety, and
classical allusion as should climb the high style; but they are neither
frequent nor conventionally decorative, and some of them are both
lively and urgent pleas. The following examples are typical.

Book III: Pope Gregory to the Florentines for peace through the
restoration of the exiles; and the Florentine speech of refusal.
Book IV: Ianus Labella for insuring the republic against the pride of the
nobles.
Book VI: Debate of the Perugian envoys with the Florentines.
Book VIII: The Florentine envoys to the Pope; the Pope’s reply and
Barbadoro’s indignant rejoinder.
Book XII: The Milanese legates at Venice against the Florentines, and
the Florentine reply.

Bruni puts orations oftenest into the mouths of envoys to develop

issues which he has already summarized. Generally they are terser
than the speeches of the fashionable dialogues; and sometimes, for
he had often been an envoy himself, they are warm with actual
debate. In this way his narrative is interpreted by exposition.
Remaining narrative in plan, it indicates the animating considerations
and interprets the outcome.

Book I, for instance, closes a summary of ancient history with a survey

of Italian cities after the invasions, and Frederick II’s fatal widening of the
breach between Empire and Papacy. Book II shows Florence in full
republican career thwarted by factions; Book IV, the creation of the
vexillifer justitiae as a republican means of checking the selfish ambitions
of the nobles. The increasing use of mercenaries shown in Book VII leads
to chronic difficulties detailed later. The last three books present the war
with Milan not only in its succession of events, but also as a single
enterprise.

Finishing his first book in 1416, his sixth in 1429, Bruni solemnly
presented nine books to the Signory in 1439, and lived to finish his
long labor before 1444.
De bello italico adversos gothos gesto historia (1441), an
amplification of the summary in the first book of his History of
Florence, has less interpretation. The steady, concise narrative, with
little comment, has sometimes too little salience. But to attentive
reading the story of battle after battle, now victory, now defeat,
gradually gives some grasp of the military operations to hold Italy for
Justinian. The main figure is Belisarius. Except in occasional concrete
description, this history is more like Caesar’s, and is an experiment in
that expository narrative later mastered by Macchiavelli. Belisarius is
clearly exhibited not only as marvelous in military science, but as an
intelligent organizer and administrator. When he feels himself let
down by Justinian, and is approached by the Goths toward a joint
kingdom, he will not commit himself to any disloyalty. His triumphal
return to Justinian reports his intelligent discipline in Italy. Later his
recall to Italy after other generals had meantime failed finds the task
of reorganization hopeless in the disaffection of the imperial soldiers
so long unpaid and ill led. With very little comment or review
Belisarius emerges clearly from the narrative itself.
 Bruni’s histories are evidence of a sober earlier humanism immune
to the extravagances of Ciceronianism and to that allusive display
that led to dilation. They go about their business. Oratory is kept
subsidiary to the story and the message. This tradition of Latin
history continues in the Scotorum historiae (1526) of Hector Boece,
and again in the Rerum scoticarum historia (1582) of George
Buchanan. Both wrote Latin history seriously as European scholars.
Buchanan, sometimes arid and partisan, was nationalist, indeed,
only in his later years. Meantime he had taught for many years in
France, had written Latin tragedies, and had been saluted by Joseph
Scaliger as the foremost of Latin poets. History, then, kept alive
among the humanists the medieval tradition of international Latin.
Its classicism, more restrained and more intelligent, less of style
than of method, was the more valid imitation.

(b) Vernacular Histories

MORE

Sir Thomas More’s study of Richard III (The History of King

Richard the Thirde ... Writen by Master Thomas More ... 1513, ed. J.
R. Lumby, Cambridge, 1883) shows these preoccupations in both
Latin and English. Though it is unfinished, it is not fragmentary, nor
merely descriptive; it is a thoroughgoing interpretation. All the more
conspicuous, therefore, is its concrete vividness. Though judge and
afterward pamphleteer, More cast this history as story. He makes us
understand largely by making us see. Thus the Queen surrenders
her son.

All this notwithstanding, here I deliuer him, and hys brother in him, to
kepe into your handes, of whom I shall aske them both afore God and the
world. Faithfull ye be, that wot I wel, and I know wel ye be wise. Power
and strength to kepe him if you list neither lacke ye of yourself nor can
lack helpe in this cause. And if ye cannot elsewhere, than may ye leue him
here. But only one thing I beseche you, for the trust that his father put in
you euer and for the trust that I put in you now, that as farre as ye thinke
that I fere to muche, be ye wel ware that ye fere not as farre to little. And
 therewithall she said vnto the child: Farewel, my own swete sonne; God
send you good keping; let him kis you ones yet ere ye goe, for God
knoweth when we shal kis togither agayne. And therewith she kissed him
and blessed him, turned her back and wept and went her way, leauing the
childe weping as fast. When the lord Cardinal and these other lordes with
him had receiued this yong duke, thei brought him into the sterrechamber,
where the protectour toke him in his armes and kissed him with these
wordes: Now welcome, my lord, euen with al my very hart. And he sayd in
that of likelihod as he thought. Thereupon forthwith they brought him to
the kynge his brother into the bishoppes palice at Powles, and from
thence through the citie honorably into the Tower, out of which after that
day they neuer came abrode (40).

The three pages devoted to the episode of Shore’s wife, lively at

once with irony and with image, pass to calm estimate and moral
reflection.

And for thys cause as a goodly continent prince, clene and faultles of
himself, sent out of heauen into this vicious world for the amendment of
mens maners, he caused the bishop of London to put her to open
penance, going before the crosse in procession upon a Sonday with a
taper in her hand. In which she went in countenance and pace demure so
womanly, and albeit she were out of al array saue her kyrtle only, yet
went she so fair and louely, namelye while the wondering of the people
caste a comly rud in her chekes, of whiche she before had most misse,
that her great shame wan her much praise.... But me semeth the chaunce
so much the more worthy to be remembred in how much she is now in
the more beggerly condicion, vnfrended and worne out of acquaintance,
after good substance, after as gret fauour with the prince, after as gret
sute and seking to with al those that those days had busynes to spede, as
many other men were in their times, which be now famouse only by the
infamy of their il dedes. Her doinges were not much lesse, albeit thei be
much lesse remembred because thei were not so euil (53).

The conversations of the Duke of Buckingham with Cardinal

Morton, functioning as exposition, close at the end of More’s
manuscript almost as a scene in a play.

The duke laughed merely at the tale, and said: My lord, I warant you
neither the lyon nor the bore shal pyke anye matter at any thyng here
spoken; for it shall neuer come nere their eare. In good fayth, sir, said the
 bishop, if it did, the thing that I was about to say, taken as wel as afore
God I ment it, could deserue but thank; and yet taken as I wene it wold,
might happen to turne me to litle good and you to lesse. Then longed the
duke yet moch more to wit what it was. Wherupon the byshop said: In
good faith, my lord, as for the late protector, sith he is now king in
possession, I purpose not to dispute his title. But for the weale of this
realm, wherof his grace hath now the gouernance, and wherof I am my
self one poore member, I was about to wish that to those habilities wherof
he hath already right many litle nedyng my prayse, it might yet haue
pleased God for the better store to haue geuen him some of suche other
excellente vertues mete for the rule of a realm as our Lorde hath planted
in the parsone of youre grace (91).

More’s diction is discreetly popular, both choice and homely,

pointed with proverbs, occasionally reminiscent of popular poetry.

The Quene her self satte alone alowe on the rishes all desolate and
dismayde (20).

The management of sentences is less expert. More, as many other

humanists, was bilingual to the extent of composing habitually in
Latin even when he meant to publish in the vernacular. Richard III
he composed in both. This may partly explain his frequent use of
what are now subordinating conjunctions to begin sentences.
Wherefore is often used in sixteenth-century English, as Latin quare,
where modern use requires therefore. But when allowance is made
for this, there still remains some uncertainty as to sentence
boundaries, some doubt as to whether an added clause is
subordinate or independent. Writing racy English for the larger
audience, More tolerated the looser aggregative habit of English
prose in his time. But his English, as well as his Latin, shows clear
grasp of the period, and even occasional strict conformity. Current
English still lagged in this respect throughout the century. Before
Hooker English prose is generally less controlled than Italian. On the
other hand, More uses balance and epigram discreetly, not for
decorative display, but strictly for point; and his shifting from longer
aggregations to sharp short sentences gives pleasant variety.
 MACCHIAVELLI

Narrative and exposition are perfectly fused in Macchiavelli (Istorie

fiorentine, testo critico con introduzione e note per cura di Plinio
Carli, Florence, Sansoni, 1927, 2 vols.). His history of Florence
(1532) not only has an insistent moral; it is at once narrative and
expository. While we see the events, we see into them. His analytic
narrative carries the orator’s art of narratio,[83] the statement of the
facts involved in an argument, to greater scope. We follow
Macchiavelli not merely as assenting to his conclusions, but as
reaching them ourselves. The more distinctively narrative values of
vividness and directness he brings out often enough to show his
control. But his ultimate object is not imaginative realization; it is
rather persuasion. The sequence is not only of events, but of ideas.
The admirable orations given to leaders at crises are not merely
conventional, nor mainly to characterize the speaker as a person in a
play, but to expound the situation. Livian in model, they are oratory
of a higher order, both acutely reasoned and persuasive.
Macchiavelli’s exposition is sometimes separate, as in the essay
that prefaces each book, or in those sententiae that from time to
time open vistas of thought.

Beyond doubt rancor seems greater and strokes are heavier when
liberty is recovered than when it is defended (II. xxxvii. 123).
For a republic no law can be framed which is more vicious than one that
looks to the past (III. iii. 136).
No one who starts a revolution in a city should expect either to stop it
where he intends, or to regulate it in his own way (III. x. 148).
Between men who aspire to the same position it is easy to arrange
alliance, but not friendship (VI. ix. 34).
For men in power shame consists in losing, not in crooked winning (VI.
xvii. 81).
Thereupon arose in the city those evils which oftenest spawn in a
peace. For the young, freer than usual, spent immoderately on dress,
suppers, and such luxuries, and being idle, wasted their time and